Titan FC 44 set for May 19 with Jose Torres looking to become 2-division champ

Titan FC 44 is official for May 19, and the main event features the promotion’s flyweight champion looking to score a second belt.

Titan FC officials recently announced the card will take place at Pembroke Pines City Center in Pembroke Pines, Fla. In the headliner, 125-pound champ Jose Torres (4-0) moves up to challenge bantamweight titleholder Farkhad Sharipov (17-7).

“The bantamweight matchup between Farkhad Sharipov, the Titan FC bantamweight champion, and our flyweight champion Jose ‘Shorty’ Torres, pits two of the best fighters on our roster in one of the biggest fights in company history,” Titan FC COO Lex McMahon stated. “Sharipov is a very exciting veteran, while ‘Shorty’ Torres is a rising star trying to blaze his own trail to the UFC by following the blueprint set by Conor McGregor and becoming a two-division champion.

“Titan FC 44 will also feature an interim lightweight title fight between ‘JZ’ Cavalcante and Kurt Holobaugh. As a fan of MMA, I’m beyond excited for ‘JZ’ vs. Holobaugh and am certain this will be a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate in all of MMA, not just Titan FC.”

All four of Torres’ pro fights have come under the Titan FC banner. In January, he stopped Pedro Nobre just 86 seconds into their bantamweight title fight at Titan FC 43 to defend the title he won this past August by knocking out Abdiel Velazquez. Now in just his fifth pro fight, he’ll go after a second belt.

Sharipov won the bantamweight title by taking Titan FC’s tournament to crown a champion. He took a split decision over Bruce Lutchmedial at Titan FC 40 to punch his ticket to the final. And in that final, he won the belt with a five-round unanimous decision over Andrew Whitney. Sharipov’s resume also includes three fights under the Bellator banner.

Cavalcante, a WSOF, Strikeforce and DREAM veteran, won Titan FC’s lightweight title in his first fight for the promotion by knocking out Pat Healy in the first round at Titan FC 39 this past June. But two months later, his reign came crashing down when he was choked out by Freddy Assuncao at Titan FC 40. The Florida-based Brazilian got back on track in December with a unanimous decision win over Robert Turnquest at Titan FC 42 and now looks to get a belt around his waist again.

Holobaugh has made Titan FC his primary fighting home after one-fight stints in Strikeforce and the UFC in 2013, where he dropped decisions to Healy and Steven Siler. Since then, he’s won seven of nine, including five of six for Titan. He won the featherweight title at Titan FC 33 with a split decision over Desmond Green, but then dropped back-to-back fights, including a title fight against Andre Harrison at Titan FC 34. He has back-to-back stoppage wins, though, and now goes after a title at lightweight.